So this will be my first Sakura-Con. I signed up to be A/V Day Staff, so I'll be helping out during the day on Thursday; but I'm wondering what there is to do for fun Thursday night before the con? Sitting in my hotel room being bored, doesn’t sound that fun, lol…

Since there are no actual activities going on thursday, what you can do is really up to you. I like to eat first lol then I like to go to the con center and look for all the areas that each of the shoots I'm attending will be at. I do this so I can get a good feel of the area and see what could make a good picture. I think "hmm, if I have XCharater with he (and I do this with many character situations) then this pic would look awesome!! OH AND THIS!!" And so on.

Then it's time to roam the city. Once I get all my con things outta the way thursday, I decide to go hit up the streets in cosplay just hang out. Last year it was just me and my dad, so we went walking looking for local eateries, stores in case we needed something from one, and how far the mall was. At Akicon last year, (in bellevue) me, him and our 2 rommies decided to walk all over town for like 2 hours..There's tons of things in seattle

Already had the food and walking around part in mind lol. I'm hoping I can talk my friends into coming to Sakura-Con. They're still debating, since we're already going to Emerald City Comicon at the start of March. If they don’t come to Sakura-Con, this will probably be the first time I’ve ever gone on a trip solo (it’s going to be so weird.)

I’m sure I’ll find some way to pass the time Thursday night; though I’ve never even been to Seattle. Wait no, I’ve never “stayed” in Seattle before; I did drive through it on a bus trip to the middle of Canada years back, but yeah, that’s about it.

I’ll probably have some last minute prep to do anyway before Sakura-Con starts. I still need to figure out how to style a wig, once the wig I ordered for my Kakashi cosplay arrives (this will be my first time cosplaying really.) Pretty excited about the con, I’ve wanted to go to an anime convention for years now.

So about half a block away from the Convention Center is an arcade called Gameworks. On Thursdays, they have a special promotion called Pay To Play, which basically boils down to this: you pay $10 and get unlimited play on most of the games (excluding crane games and similar things, obviously) from 7PM til midnight (closing).

A lot of Sakura-Con goers hang out here on Thursday. Great if you like arcades/playing games, or just want to soak up the atmosphere in a fun place.

So about half a block away from the Convention Center is an arcade called Gameworks. On Thursdays, they have a special promotion called Pay To Play, which basically boils down to this: you pay $10 and get unlimited play on most of the games (excluding crane games and similar things, obviously) from 7PM til midnight (closing).

A lot of Sakura-Con goers hang out here on Thursday. Great if you like arcades/playing games, or just want to soak up the atmosphere in a fun place.

OH CRAP!! I completely forgot about Gameworks!! I love that place sooo much!! lol

So about half a block away from the Convention Center is an arcade called Gameworks. On Thursdays, they have a special promotion called Pay To Play, which basically boils down to this: you pay $10 and get unlimited play on most of the games (excluding crane games and similar things, obviously) from 7PM til midnight (closing).

A lot of Sakura-Con goers hang out here on Thursday. Great if you like arcades/playing games, or just want to soak up the atmosphere in a fun place.

So about half a block away from the Convention Center is an arcade called Gameworks. On Thursdays, they have a special promotion called Pay To Play, which basically boils down to this: you pay $10 and get unlimited play on most of the games (excluding crane games and similar things, obviously) from 7PM til midnight (closing).

A lot of Sakura-Con goers hang out here on Thursday. Great if you like arcades/playing games, or just want to soak up the atmosphere in a fun place.

This.

I usually spend Thursday night meeting up with friends who are also at the con, finishing last minute cosplay stuff, or sleeping lol. I fly to Seattle early in the morning with one of my roomies, so we're both pretty tired by the end of the day.

As it's been said a couple times, I won't say anything other than Gameworks. xD" I love going even just for a few hours. I tend to hit pre-reg kind of late so it works out almost perfectly that I get there either just before or just after the deal starts. c: Plus it's nice to meet people you'll be spending the weekend with and get to know people too! And it's super fun. 10$ play all night. Amazing. xD"

The other I thing I like doing is just walking around the general area of the convention center. Get into the feeling of con, find out how long it takes to walk/take the bus to things (I'm normally driving most cons, but not this year...!), do last minuet hotel/car food and drink stocking... That and get settled in the hotel room. We have a super packed room this year. D: Three cosplayers, one non but with a crap ton of make up. Ffffff-

There is a little bit of cosplay that day. Its mainly just hanging out with people. There is normally a pool party at just about every hotel. Explore the city. You said it was your first time to sak, is it your first time in Seattle? If so Pikes Place is just a few blocks away and I recommend you visit it. Lots of cool things to see and great food. If you have a car check out the space needle and all that crap.

What I strongly suggest is walk around the convention center to get a good feel for the layout. It can be overwhelming for someone their first time there, again if you haven't been there before.

Does anyone happen to know the pass pick up times for thurs before con? It's also my first time I'm trying to get there before pass pickup closes but I also have class till 3:30pm that day. (And next bus to Seattle is 6:30pm T_T)

Does anyone happen to know the pass pick up times for thurs before con? It's also my first time I'm trying to get there before pass pickup closes but I also have class till 3:30pm that day. (And next bus to Seattle is 6:30pm T_T)

I think last year it went till 8 or 9 at night. I'm not too sure of the times just yet though. They kept it open for a long time last year and it worked out great for them, just not the normal reg line. I think pre-reg was open from 12-9 or something like that on Thursday.

Does anyone happen to know the pass pick up times for thurs before con? It's also my first time I'm trying to get there before pass pickup closes but I also have class till 3:30pm that day. (And next bus to Seattle is 6:30pm T_T)

I'm pretty sure prereg pickup has been closing at 9PM since as far back as I can remember. If it's the same this year, you should still have plenty of time, depending on how long your bus ride is. (:

Sierria, I would keep an eye on the main website for SC. I remember pre-reg being open a little longer last year for so some reason, but that might just be me. xD" If not, I know that they open around 5-6am on Friday for pre-reg pick up and normal registration. c: It kind of depends year to year sometimes.

There's tons of stuff to do in Seattle before con! XD First off, I'd like to welcome you to the magnificent world that is Sakura-Con and anime conventions in general! Second, stuff to do. First things first obviously, I always check-in to my hotel first and drop all my stuff off. Like Rhapsodey said earlier, it's gonna be super packed for me this year too cuz we have four people in one room, all cosplayers. And I'll be bringing four cosplays this year as opposed to my usual one or two...ugh... Anywho, then there's checking out the Convention Center to get a feel for where everything is while there's no crowds, picking up badge if you're pre-reg, and walking around Seattle in cosplay (the best part!). There's so much to do in Seattle it's not even funny lol Gameworks, Pike Place, the Waterfront, Space Needle, etc etc. ArdentTenue, I see you're going as Kakashi. If you want someone to hang out with and not feel silly by yourself, I'll be walking around as Sasuke on Thursday with someone else who's cosplaying Konan.